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Flames sign forward Byron to one-year contract

Paul Byron signed a one-year contract with the Calgary Flames on Sunday, avoiding arbitration. Byron's hearing was scheduled for Thursday.

Financial terms were not released, but Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported the contract is worth $900,000.

Byron (5-foot-7, 153 pounds) scored six goals and 19 points in 57 games with Calgary last season. He has 17 goals and 48 points in 138 NHL games.

“[Cocah Bob Hartley] gives me an opportunity to play," Byron told the Calgary Sun. "He knows my skill-set and the speed and energy I can create for the team and he has no hesitation putting me on different lines at different points of the game. I know that even if I'm not playing much in the first couple of periods, at any time in the third, I could be moved up.

"Just having a coach that has that confidence in you to play you in those situations, it feels good and gives you more confidence as a player. I know I can play my game and he relies on me."

Byron had surgery to repair a sports hernia in May and an operation on his wrist in June. He will have a pin removed from his wrist the first week of September and hopes to be ready for the start of training camp, according to the Sun.

He missed 24 of the final 25 games of last season and Calgary's 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games. After eliminating the Vancouver Canucks in six games, the Flames were eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks in five.

"It was terrible. It [stinks] watching," Byron said. "You put so much time and effort in, and you want to be out there with them and help them. I think my speed and forecheck and everything could have helped the team, for sure."